Name: Fermenting a Communal Spirit
Start: 2025-06-12
End: 2025-06-12
Location: Morris County Historical Society

Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival

UPDATE: Due to inclement weather, all of the events for SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 have been CANCELED.

The events for FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 WILL CONTINUE AS PLANNED.

Visit the website at www.morristownjazzandblues.org for more details.

On Saturday, September 23, the Festival moves to the Morristown Green and the music begins at noon with the U.S. Navy’s premier jazz ensemble, The Commodores. This 18-piece ensemble draws on big band charts from the Swing Era to today’s music and everything in between.

At 2:00pm, the festival goes Latin with the exciting Gotham City Latin Jazz Septet, led by Grammy Award-nominee, drummer Richard Baratta. Joining him are the highly acclaimed award-winning pianist Bill O’Connell, the great saxophonist Vincent Herring, award-winning guitarist Paul Bollenbeck, and the superb rhythm section of bassist Michael Goetz and percussionist Paul Rossman.

Then at 4:00pm it is the sensational hot jazz ensemble The Hot Sardines who were praised by Forbes magazine as “one of the best jazz bands in New York City today” and approach their music through innovation, verve and sheer joy. They will come to Morristown following a week at New York’s famed Birdland Jazz Club.

At 6:00pm, the Festival turns to the blues with one of this country’s great guitarists, Ana Popovic, who was a sensation at the Festival in 2017. Since going on her own more than 20 years ago, she has secured eight Blues Music Award nominations and has appeared on the cover of several major guitar magazines. Her newest recording, Power (ArtiseXclusive), debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Album Chart in May.

The final slot at 8:00pm heralds the return of Louis Prima Jr. and the Witnesses, thanks to the Gia Maione Prima Foundation and the law firm of Sherman Atlas. The band brings their own special approach to the music of Louis Prima Sr., including such hits as “Jump Jive ‘an Wail,” “Just a Gigilo,” and “Sing Sing Sing.” It is an exciting way to bring this year’s Festival to a close.